Desenvolvimento e avaliação de um aplicativo móvel para monitoramento de pacientes fissurados

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered significant changes in the approach to health and disease processes, leading to the adoption of new care strategies, such as Teleorthodontics. Even after the end of the pandemic, Teleorthodontics remained a useful resource for overcoming other challenges in healthcare. Through telemonitoring and teleorientation, patients can be remotely monitored, using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), which has contributed to improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare services. The increasing use of smartphones in Brazil makes mobile applications a viable option for this type of care. In this context, the proposal to develop a mobile application dedicated to the telemonitoring and guidance of pediatric patients with cleft lip and/or palate (CL±P) during pre-surgical orthopedic treatment with nasoalveolar molding (NAM) arises. This study also aims to identify, through a scoping review, the technologies available for monitoring patients with CL±P. For this purpose, the first work plan consisted of developing a protocol and scoping review to map the digital resources and technologies available for monitoring patients with CL±P through the analysis of primary studies. This process aims to answer the following question: "What digital resources and technologies are being applied in monitoring patients with CL±P and what is the impact of this approach on the quality of life of these patients?". The final protocol was registered in the Open Science Framework (DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/Y6AG8). Currently, the review is in the article selection phase, following the previously outlined search strategy. As for the second work plan, it involved the development and evaluation of a mobile application aimed at enabling the remote monitoring and guidance of babies with CL±P and their caregivers during treatment with NAM. The application was developed following the User-Centered Design (UCD) methodology and evaluated based on usability and user satisfaction parameters. In total, 20 caregivers participated in this study, along with their respective babies. Among the 20 caregivers, the majority were female (n = 18; 90%), with an average age of 29.3 years and maternal bond (n = 18; 90%). Regarding income, 40% (n = 8) had a family income between 1 and 2 minimum wages, while 35% (n = 7) had completed higher education and 30% (n = 6) had completed high school. The majority of participants resided in the state of São Paulo (n = 13; 65%), all had internet access, and mainly used the Android operating system (n = 16; 80%). The average distance from their municipalities to the treatment centers was 55.72 kilometers. Of the babies registered in the application, 70% (n = 14) were male, with an average age of approximately 23 days at the beginning of NAM treatment, predominantly presenting unilateral cleft lip and palate (14; 70%). In terms of usability, the developed application achieved a score of 83.63 on the System Usability Scale (SUS), indicating a satisfactory level. Regarding satisfaction, the majority of participants reported being satisfied with the tool.